Tag Archive for: Alzheimer’s

Eyedrops for Alzheimer’s?

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A recent study is looking at eyedrops for glaucoma and the potential prevention or possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. I have a vested interest in that because I have glaucoma and use a form of the medication in question for it. The function of the medication is like a localized diuretic; the medication is absorbed into the blood stream and is carried throughout the body.

Researchers discovered that an enzyme inhibitor called a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor affect the formation of amyloid bodies in blood vessels. The medication may work inside the mitochondrion in some way to prevent formation of these proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. When they administered the medication to mice at about eight months of life forward, the mice didn’t demonstrate the cognitive decline found in untreated mice.

While the actual mechanism of action is not specifically understood yet, if it proves effective in clinical trials in humans, a pharmaceutical developed to help with one condition may benefit people in other ways. Not all intended consequences turn out to be negative. I’ll cover another interesting study on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13063

Can Medium-Chain Triglycerides Help with Alzheimer’s Disease?

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Medium-chain triglycerides are hot today. Derived from coconut oil or palm oil, they have the advantage of being used for energy without much processing by the liver. People doing the ketogenic diet use them, as well as athletes looking for more energy. From a medical perspective, MCTs are used for people with fat-absorption problems and to treat epilepsy in some people. For today, I’ll focus on the use of MCTs for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease.

From an examination of the research on those two specific areas, the research is sparse. There’s little to no research that MCTs will prevent Alzheimer’s disease. There are a couple of small studies that have been done to treat Alzheimer’s patients with coconut oil or MCTs, but the results are equivocal.

The reason MCTs may benefit the brain is energy production via a non-sugar-based pathway. Whether additional energy for the brain helps learning and memory is unknown. What seems clear is that prediabetes and type 2 diabetes contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s, so it seems more important to lower refined carbohydrates and eat a more plant-based diet. I think including extra virgin coconut oil in a better diet could be helpful. At this point, specific MCT products seem unwarranted due to the lack of research. They may prove to be useful for some groups based on genetics, phenotype, and microbiome. Just not yet.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:

1. Lancet Neurol. 2018 Jan;17(1):84-93. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30408-8.
2. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2014 Aug;29(5):409-14. doi: 10.1177/1533317513518650.

Research Update on Coffee and Alzheimer’s Disease

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I began drinking coffee when my mother put coffee with sugar and milk into my baby bottle—sounds shocking today, but that’s the way it was. Over 60 years later, I still love coffee, especially strong coffee. That’s why a health headline suggesting coffee may reduce Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions caught my attention. I had to check it out.

Don’t rush off to the nearest coffee bar just yet, especially if you don’t drink coffee. This was a laboratory experiment to examine a by-product of coffee roasting called phenylindanes. The researchers examined whether these chemicals could prevent the aggregation of amyloid-beta and tau, the building blocks of the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. Turns out, they can prevent those clusters and that’s great, but these are test-tube studies.

We’ve seen this many times before. Test-tube studies show beneficial effects of some nutrient and a product is rushed to market with no human trials. While that wasn’t the intent of the researchers, it probably will happen; you can still buy green coffee bean extract for weight loss even though the major clinical trial has been not just discounted but retracted.

I think it shows there’s power in plant nutrients. Eating or drinking a wide variety of all plants will help reduce inflammation, and thus the production of harmful chemicals in our bodies. The benefits are not just limited to raw vegetables or fruits. Cooking can have a beneficial impact on the phytonutrients just as the roasting of coffee beans may have. We don’t have to focus on a single nutrient for benefits.

The keys to health don’t change. Eat better. Eat Less. Move more. And have a cup of coffee or two along the way if you like it.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Front. Neurosci., 10-2018 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00735

 

How to Have a Healthy Brain

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Based on the questions and comments I get, many of you want to know how to protect your brains. Your memories and the ability to make new ones are what make you you. There are many programs and even more books written about the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s. In my opinion, they’re premature because we just don’t know enough yet.

That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do to protect our brains and our memories. I recently watched an interview with Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist who wrote the book “Still Alice.” That prompted me to watch her TED talk, which I strongly recommend.

Genova’s suggestions are simple but absolutely based on the current science. Here they are:

  • Get good sleep—that’s critical. When you get into a deep sleep, the brain flushes out those molecules that can destroy neurons.
  • Exercise regularly, especially aerobic exercise for the exact same reason as getting good sleep. Exercise clears the molecules that cause destruction.
  • Eat a diet that reduces inflammation: more vegetables, more fruit, healthier fats, and fewer refined carbohydrates. With a brain-healthy approach, you might just lose a few pounds as well—which also reduces inflammation.
  • Keep your brain engaged in learning new things. In data from the Nun’s Study, autopsies showed some nuns had brains that had shrunken and looked like brains from Alzheimer’s patients, but they had exhibited few symptoms of memory loss associated with the disease because they never stopped learning. That helps you create what Genova calls a cognitive reserve: your brain makes so many extra connections that it can work around the ones that are broken.

That’s it. Eat your veggies. Get some exercise. Get good sleep. Never stop learning. It’s as simple as that. I’ll have a special New Year’s Day Memo for you so after the celebration, check it out.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: http://bit.ly/2lkoXYv